Week 3 - Low Carb Bootcamp - Where We Have a Decision to Make!

[BIWI]

Morning all.

Here's the link to the Spreadsheet of Fabulousness

So we've finished Bootcamp! Well done all or at least to all those who are still with us

Now you have a decision to make. You can move on to Bootcamp Light, if you wish, which is more relaxed (to a degree). The rules are on the tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheet - sorry, I don't have time to copy/paste this morning as I have to get off to work about 10 minutes ago.

But essentially it means that you can introduce nuts and berries - in moderation. You no longer have to have three meals a day. If you're not hungry, then it's fine to skip a meal - as long as you don't then dive into a pile of carbs when you get hungry! And you can have alcohol - again, in moderation.

If you're happy with the stricter Bootcamp then by all means stay on that, but please, please, please make sure that your carbs are coming from vegetables and salad. It's important that you get nutrition from these.

Or you can, if you like, do Bootcamp at the week and Bootcamp Light at the weekend.

However

There is also something else you need to prepare for, and that is the dreaded weeks 3 and 4 slowdown!

It's something that lots of people experience. The weight loss suddenly stops, for no apparent reason. If this happens, don't worry and don't panic that you're doing anything wrong (assuming that you're not, of course ), just keep on keeping on, and it will get going again - albeit at a slower rate.

From here on, you should be expecting to see a loss of 1-2lbs a week.

Good luck everyone!

Really good post, Mrsstevejones!

Ehric and Charlie - and anyone else who is struggling - you are in week 3. I told you about week 3. Sometimes it happens in week 4 as well!

Please don't stress over it. Keep on keeping on, don't suddenly give into the carbs, and you'll see the scales start to move again.

If you're concerned about what you're eating, list out your meals for me over the last 3-4 days and let me see if there's anything I can help with.

Remember - this is a marathon not a sprint (sadly!). But you didn't put all the weight on suddenly so it's not just going to drop off in a couple of weeks.

D - streaky bacon, buttery scrambled egg, fried mushrooms

Thanks mrsS and BIWI
I hadn't really twigged I was in week 3, doh.
My meals are
B- either one or 2 hb eggs with butter
Coffee with cream
L- salad with olives and avocado
And soup with veggies (mushroom, celery, cauli) and a bit of yoghurt or cream
D- veg, broccoli, butter, cheese in some form or another

Or if I can't access a microwave I've been having just the salad at lunch but adding feta cheese

Snacks - total or eridanous yoghurt, whipped cream with a strawberry chopped in, 5 Brazil nuts

Too much dairy?

Great post MrsS.

Feeling a bit down today, got a headache and off my food. Just made pulled pork, with salad, coleslaw and wraps for everyone else but can't face it myself. Not a lover of pulled pork anyway but struggling to think what I can have instead. Maybe just some yoghurt and cream.

Great pep talk Mrssteve!

B: 2 hb eggs with mayo
L: some cocktail sausages, cheese and tomato on sticks and some other bits I cannot speak of (at family kids' party, I had factored it in, it genuinely would have been difficult to not eat anything - life's too short)
D: chicken breast stuffed with Boursin and wrapped in Parma ham, buttery cabbage and green beans.

Feeling on the slim side today although scales only showing a half lb loss this week... and lunch today won't have helped. I may weigh in on Tuesday again

Thanks, StuntNun and Notso for your thoughts on maintenance. I am allergic to wheat and not fussed about potatoes, so really I will be thinking about carbier veg and seasonal fruit if/ when I get to maintenance. I am not really missing anything - as others have said, there is so much to love about this WOE, that I am fine with KOKO at the moment.

I had a bit of a carb deviation early January and I felt emotionally unstable and had to quell the cravings again, so will just remind myself of that. When I look back pre-BC, the sugar addiction/emotional eating seems really obvious, but at the time, it honestly didn't. I guess I am worried about it creeping back up on me.

anyway, I am getting ahead of myself as am not at goal weight yet! I am wondering what happens if you just keep eating boot camp for ever after. Does your weight stabilise somewhere? Or does the body fat keep getting used up?

Thanks, Mrs S for the point about not doing daily weighing. I shall pack my scales away again till 8 March (or maybe next Monday) I already measure every day, i don't want to weigh too.

Fab speech Mrssteve

Went to a carvery for lunch/dinner. I had roast beef and turkey with broccoli, cauliflower cheese (may have been carby sauce) and a spoonful of mashed carrot and swede. It was delicious. Went to my parents for pudding I had mascarpone and blueberries and a small glass of wine.
I think this weekend might have stalled me and in any case it's week 3 but I feel slimmer and I'm totally happy on this woe so will koko.

BIWI thanks for looking, this is a rundown of my past 4 days, typically in the week I would have avocado for breakfast with a drizzle of olive oil, and I would eat 3 meals at weekends, just happen to have had 2 long lie ins this week. Understand week 3 but I've only lost about 1lb in total I think, just can't seem to get going.

Thurs
B - black farmer sausage and a marmite cheese
L - some soupologie spinach and kale soup with a couple of chicken thighs
D - gyoza meatballs with cauliflower fried rice done in coconut oil

Fri
B- 1/2 small pot total ff with a splash of cream and a touch of almond butter
L - leftover gyoza meatballs with salad and hm Mayo
D- salmon fillet with vegetable fried cauliflower rice

Sat
Brunch - bacon sandwich made with 2 oopsie rolls
D- chicken massaman curry, cauliflower rice

Sun
Brunch - bacon, mushrooms, oopsie roll
D- roast belly pork, with crackling, roasted green beans, steamed kale and broccoli

Thank you MrsSteve! I feel very motivated to KOKO. The scales will tell all tomorrow, but I have had a week of being more relaxed around food that I have been in ages, which is remarkable. Hadn't realised how much I had internalised WW Points, and how much it was stressing me out - every time I got hungry, I was weighing up 'good'/'bad' choices, should I have 'free' fruit, skip the meeting, etc. V bad for an over-sensitive perfectionist like me!
Today, I ate so well.
B - small portion last night's gorgeous moussaka
S - coffee w cream, by myself, and with a book!
L - two M&S smoked salmon/cream cheese parcels, handful rocket, some olives
D - roast pork, crackling of total joy, celeriac mash, red wine gravy (only a tad) and buttery garlicky kale
Have not been over-full or dizzily hungry for a while now, which is empowering!
Hope everyone has a relaxing evening - try and do something nice for yourselves please - a chapter from your book in peace - your choice on tv - painting nails - herbal tea and staring out of the window - something nice and still. We are all trying our best. Happy weigh-in tomorrow everyone and KOKO! xxxx

Today was a weird daY for me.

B half an avocado, a pepperami and a cup of coffee
L four slices of Turkey, a tbpsn of crunchy peanut butter
D four slices of bacon, four tesco finest chipolatas, scrambled egg, and plum tomatoes

Because I felt a bit out of sorts, I did succumb to two Doritos and four Colin the caterpillar sweets :(

Can someone please tell me how to make coconut porridge? It sounds delicious and I really fancy giving it a go. Plus, remind me again what people put into the total Greek yoghurt when they have breakfast.

Many thanks.

If i have yog for breakfast i put cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon - yum. I did used to use coconut cream but it doesnt really mix in very well and is a bit grainy. HTH

About to go back and read the thread as have been busy busy all weekend. Bit off the rails last night and today mostly wine related. Food has been reasonable and water consumption shocking. Will do way better tomorrow. I promise.

Straightforward day - sausage and egg for breakfast, tuna and egg soda for lunch and salmon and spinach for dinner. Feel totally in the swing of things now

Charlie

B - black farmer sausage and a marmite cheese

Not much food here? And both are processed - although I love both of them! Might be worth substituting them for some eggs for a bit?

L - some soupologie spinach and kale soup with a couple of chicken thighs

How many carbs in the soup? Did you make it, or was it one that you bought?

D - gyoza meatballs with cauliflower fried rice done in coconut oil

Sounds lovely, but how much did you eat? You can 'under' eat, you know!

Fri
B- 1/2 small pot total ff with a splash of cream and a touch of almond butter
L - leftover gyoza meatballs with salad and hm Mayo
D- salmon fillet with vegetable fried cauliflower rice

All this sounds good, but how big were your portions? Are you eating enough?

Sat
Brunch - bacon sandwich made with 2 oopsie rolls

These can stall you - I'd not bother with these if I were you, until you're at a maintenance weight

D- chicken massaman curry, cauliflower rice

Sounds lovely - assume it was home-made? But, again, how big were your portions?

Sun
Brunch - bacon, mushrooms, oopsie roll

Bacon is processed, and you had bacon yesterday - probably best avoided, and definitely ditch the oopsie roll

D- roast belly pork, with crackling, roasted green beans, steamed kale and broccoli

Sounds lovely! But why are you steaming your veg? How much fat did you actually have here?

It sounds to me like you might not be eating enough, and you need to up your fat and cut down on the processed stuff. How much water have you been drinking?

Ok weekend, low on the water consumption.
B omelette with leek cheese and ham
L cheese, olives and a couple of silver skin onions
D chicken korma with cream and leeks and peppers
2 x white wine
Digging out the flavored green teas and getting the water sorted ready for tomorrow, working from home.
Need to really focus next week and eat more veg, cut back on the dairy. Hoping to STS but not hopeful.
See you all tomorrow.

Well done Romey that's brilliant progress! I believe one can't actually go unhealthily underweight while low-carbing... don't know any fancy reason for that though.

I haven't weighed today but I know the scales before that were showing figures I don't want to see... I'm going to ignore that, because: I now need to go back to a smaller size of bra. My wedding ring is looser. My legs look thinner. Who cares what the scales say!

Better drink some more water though. I think that's a really important factor.

ijustwanttobeme

Today was a weird daY for me.

B half an avocado, a pepperami and a cup of coffee

Did you add any fat to the avocado? I'd avoid the pepperami if I were you - too processed

L four slices of Turkey, a tbpsn of crunchy peanut butter

Where's your veg/salad? And why is this all you're eating? This is a tiny amount! Do you know how many carbs in the peanut butter?

D four slices of bacon, four tesco finest chipolatas, scrambled egg, and plum tomatoes

More processed food. You should be eating fresh/natural/unprocessed meat as much as possible. And do you know the carb count of those sausages?

Because I felt a bit out of sorts, I did succumb to two Doritos and four Colin the caterpillar sweets sad

^Enough of the sad face. Why did you do that? The Doritos probably weren't that bad, but the sweets will have been hugely carby. They are, after all, pure sugar! There were 40g of carbs in those 4 sweets!

Can someone please tell me how to make coconut porridge? It sounds delicious and I really fancy giving it a go. Plus, remind me again what people put into the total Greek yoghurt when they have breakfast.

This is probably too carby as well at this stage. Re the yoghurt, I tend to have it on its own - occasionally I might have a bit of vanilla essence. Some people have cinnamon in it.

Another good day today. Was out all day with DCs at the museums which meant I didn't drink enough water but have been downing it since I got home.

Grub:

B: Mushrooms, bacon, 2 fried eggs, coffee w cream
L: Chicken, mushrooms, americano!
D: Leftover lebanese NOM, greek yoghurt with cream and cinnamon
E: Does lugging a 3 stone toddler in a buggy up and down numerous staircases start? (tons of people offered to help I just like doing it myself for the workout!)

I need to do an online shop as the fridge is a bit bare. I've not snacked all at the past few days though so am eating much less.

Ehric

It's harder for you, as a veggie. And I'm a definite carbivore, so harder for me to be as helpful!

But here goes:

B- either one or 2 hb eggs with butter

Perfect. Perhaps go with 2, to keep you fuller for longer?

Coffee with cream
L- salad with olives and avocado

Sounds good - I assume/hope that you're using plenty of oil on the salad?

And soup with veggies (mushroom, celery, cauli) and a bit of yoghurt or cream

Doesn't sound like there's much fat going on here? Fry the veg first in butter, add oil as a garnish, and use plenty of cream - assuming that dairy isn't an issue for you

D- veg, broccoli, butter, cheese in some form or another

Sounds fine

Or if I can't access a microwave I've been having just the salad at lunch but adding feta cheese

Lovely! As long as you don't have an issue with dairy

Snacks - total or eridanous yoghurt, whipped cream with a strawberry chopped in, 5 Brazil nuts

Sounds good but, as already said - do you have a problem with dairy? I know it's really hard as a veggie to keep away from dairy - but perhaps you need to think about cutting this down a little - at least for a few days to see what happens?

BIWI because I'm feeling needy do you mind if I repost my meals from above? I'd welcome your input...

Bloody hell, I've just booked a holiday. Taking my friend away for a whole week in the sun, in FIVE weeks time. No DC, just us, sleep, Sun and sleep. (It's a very sad anniversary for her so we are escaping).

I'm needing übercamp! I have five weeks, really want to get under 170lbs.
Sorry, I'm so excited I had to share!

Oops x post! Thank you so much.

With the soup I do fry in butter or oil first. And the salad has home made dressing, mostly olive oil and white vinegar with a dribble of balsamic (one dribble in a whole jar of dressing so very minimal)

It's really hard to cut dairy. It would leave me with very little to eat and few types of fat other than oil.
I need to get some tofu. I tried silken which is vom but apparently firm tofu is only about 2.5g per 100. That would be good protein to bulk up my dinners.

Thanks BIWI will ditch the rolls, they weren't that good anyway. I'm not an egg lover, hence normally have avocado for breakfast (would prefer yogurt but it seems to stall me). Quantity wise 5 meatballs, 500g pork mince made 15, and a load of cauliflower rice with finely chopped green beans, broccoli, mushrooms - so it's like fried rice, and fried in coconut oil. The same with salmon on Friday, quite a big piece. Home made curry but bought soup, 2.5 per 100g and all real ingredients. I will avoid the bacon and sausages for a couple of weeks then, and reluctantly also the marmite cheese I try hard with the water but don't always manage it.

Carbivore :D that's a Freudian slip!